[Liveblog] Hurricane Sandy and New York Art World

Gallerist will be reporting on Hurricane Sandy’s effects on the art industry throughout the coming days. Please return to this article for continuous updates on what is happening in New York. Have a hurricane story? Pictures? E-mail arusseth@observer.com.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5

[3:00 p.m.] After being closed last week due to the storm, White Columns will be reopening tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 6, at noon. According to a statement sent out today, the gallery is doing fine. “Fortunately White Columns suffered no damage during the recent storm,” the statement said. “We ask that you help assist those artists and arts organizations who suffered damage to their property, infrastructure and resources.” Their current exhibitions, including Wayne Koestenbaum’s, are being extended and will be shown through Dec. 15.

[12:00 p.m.] Chelsea’s streets were lined with dumpsters and trucks bearing supplies this morning. All across the neighborhood, galleries in the midst of repair work. Overhead, the High Line has reopened. The New York Observer will publish a report on galleries’ rebuilding efforts shortly.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2

[1:00 p.m.] The Editions | Artists’ Book Fair, which was to be held Nov. 1–4 at the former Dia building at 548 West 22nd Street, has been canceled. Founded in 1998 by Susan Inglett of I.C. Editions and Brooke Alexander Editions, the fair would have been celebrating its 15th anniversary. The founders made the following statement: “Out of respect for our friends, neighbors and colleagues who have suffered from the devastating affects of the recent storm, we at the Editions | Artists’ Book Fair have elected to cancel this year’s celebration. We wish everyone a quick recovery, our thoughts are with them.”

[12:50 p.m.] Earlier today we reported that Gagosian’s Ed Ruscha and Henry Moore exhibitions in Chelsea, which were to open next week, have been rescheduled, but published incorrect new opening dates. We regret the error. New dates will be released shortly.

[9:45 a.m.] Marlborough Chelsea has postponed the openings of its Robert Lazzarini and Yoshiaki Mochizuki shows, which were originally scheduled for Nov. 8. They will now be held Nov. 15, and the gallery will remain closed to the public until that time.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1

[8:20 p.m.] Galleries in Chelsea are beginning to assess damages, and preparing to rebuild. More here.

[1:20 p.m.] Artist Dustin Yellin’s Intercourse complex, a series of artist studios that he opened in a 25,000-square-foot Red Hook factory in January, suffered damage in the storm. More here.

[11:55 a.m.] Here’s a note from Gagosian Gallery, which was posted on their web site: “Gagosian Gallery has been actively working with our employees and artists to support them in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. And, like so many of our colleagues in Chelsea, our galleries there have sustained serious water damage from the Hudson River surge. However, prior to the storm, our gallery staff took measures to protect the artwork. We are currently assessing the extent of the damage to our Chelsea spaces and plan to reopen them as soon as possible after order is restored. Fortunately, our Madison Avenue gallery is fully operational and we are moving ahead with our scheduled Cy Twombly opening Thursday, November 1 at 6:00 p.m. Our thoughts are with the artists and galleries who suffered tremendous damage in this storm, and with our fellow New Yorkers, particularly those whose lives and livelihoods have been so severely impacted by thee devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy.”

[10:15 a.m.] Some morning updates three days after the storm:
— Museums located in the zone of Lower Manhattan without power, including the Morgan, the New Museum and the Drawing Center, remain closed.
— Gagosian will open its “Cy Twombly: The Last Paintings” show at its Madison Avenue branch tonight, from 6 to 8 p.m.
— The Salon: Art+Design fair has said that it will open on schedule, on Nov. 7, at the Park Avenue Armory.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31

[8:15 p.m.] Danspace Project (which is still waiting for power to be returned to its home at St. Mark’s Church in Brooklyn) has announced that Yvonne Rainer’s performances scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights (Nov. 1-3) have been canceled. Ticketholders should stay tuned for information on potential rescheduling, refunds and exchanges, though Danspace Project will not be able to accommodate requests until they are fully up and running. Saturday, Nov. 3, at 1 p.m. Danspace Project, Yvonne Rainer and her dancers will offer a free, post-hurricane community matinee performance of Assisted Living/Good Sports 2. As the church is without power, guests are kindly asked to bring a flashlight to participate in their “low-tech lighting design.”

Closed: The Guggenheim is closed tomorrow as per usual on Thursdays, but will be open on Friday Nov. 2 during normal hours 10 a.m. – 5:45 p.m.

Closed: New Museum continues to be closed until power is restored downtown.

[6:44 p.m.] The Whitney Museum will reopen Thursday, Nov. 1, and will have normal hours (11 a.m. – 6 p.m.). However, the Richard Artschwager Gallery Talk with Adam McEwan and curator Jennifer Gross that was scheduled for tomorrow has been canceled.

[5:00 p.m.] Sotheby’s delays its Impressionist and Modern evening sale. More here.

[3:30 p.m.]A Statement From Lehmann Maupin: We just received a statement from David Maupin, of Chelsea’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery, about Hurricane Sandy: “We at Lehmann Maupin feel very fortunate that Hurricane Sandy didn’t cause more damage to our artists, their studios and our galleries. To date, none of our New York-based artists has reported any significant damage. Our Chrystie Street gallery seems to have remained dry throughout the storm, but our Chelsea gallery did take in several feet of water, like our colleagues there. We are currently assessing the possible damage, but we hope that its minimal as our team did such a fantastic job preparing us for the storm. We have postponed this week’s Mickalene Thomas openings in Chelsea and the Lower East Side and will reschedule once power downtown is restored. Rachel and I send our best wishes to the many artists, galleries, businesses and families who sustained damages as result of Hurricane Sandy.”

[3:00 p.m.] Dia:Beacon has said that it will be open tomorrow, as usual. The Beacon, N.Y., museum typically runs on a Thursday-through-Monday schedule. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that Metro-North will soon be operating at some limited level, so you may even be able to get there from downstate. Might be a nice time for a little day trip out of the city!

[2:40 p.m.] Chelsea’s redoubtable nonprofit bookstore Printed Matter is seeking volunteers to help clean up its basement, which flooded during the storm. From its Facebook page:

“Call for Volunteers! The basement of Printed Matter was severely flooded during the Hurricane, we’re going to be meeting up at the storefront tomorrow at 11 to start clearing out all of the soggy goods from the basement. We could definitely use some extra pairs of hands if anyone is in the neighborhood and could spare a few hours to help.”

[1:30 p.m.] Art dealer Pavel Zoubok, whose eponymous gallery is on West 23rd Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, was riding out the storm in his country house in Milton, Penn.–the Tate apartment building, above his gallery, where he lives, had been evacuated and shut down–when he heard that his gallery had flooded. A full five inches of water sat on the floor. His director lives in Brooklyn, but an assistant, Trey, was on hand to sweep the water out. No art was damaged–it had all been moved. So, what was worse for his gallery, we asked him: the recent art market recession, or this? “This has been much worse,” he said. “We had a very polite downturn.”

[1:25 p.m.] Downtown nonprofits the Clocktower, Art in General, the Drawing Center and Artists Space have all said that they will be closed this week. Here’s hoping power will return soon.

[11:30 p.m.] The dinner for the Hugo Boss Prize 2012 at the Guggenheim Museum, which was scheduled for Thursday night, has been canceled. But according to a spokesperson, “the award is supposed to still be conferred tomorrow.” This year’s nominees include artists Trisha Donnelly, Rashid Johnson, Monica Sosnowska, Qiu Zhijie, Danh Vo and Tris Vonna-Michell.

[10:30 p.m.] Chelsea isn’t the only place where galleries have to deal with Hurricane Sandy. According to an e-mail from White Columns in the West Village, “the gallery will remain closed until power is restored to Lower Manhattan.” We hope it happens soon!

[9:30 p.m.] The Met announced that it will be open today from 12 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission will be free. Its Uptown branch, the Cloisters, is closed.

— Open: Brooklyn Museum, Guggenheim (only its “Picasso Black and White” show), the Museum of Modern Art,
— Closed: Frick, New Museum (which is in the area of Manhattan without power), Jewish Museum, Public Art Fund’s “Tatzu Nishi: Discovering Columbus” at Columbus Circle, El Museo del Barrio (will reopen on Thursday), Hunter College galleries, Morgan Library and Museum, the Whitney
— Not yet announced: the Metropolitan Museum of Art (announcement will be made in the morning)

[4:20 p.m.] Were you planning to attend the IFPDA Print Fair at the Park Avenue Armory this week? You still can, just a day later. The opening-night preview have been moved from Wednesday to Thursday, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., and it will run as scheduled through Sunday, Nov. 4. Here’s a preview of works that will be on offer.

[3:15 p.m.] Photographer Jade Doskow went photographing this morning throughout Red Hook, Brooklyn, which is home to many artists’ studios. Her images can be seen here.

[9:50 p.m.]American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works Is On Call: As a commenter pointed out, the Collections Emergency Response Team at the American Institute for Conservation is offering 24-hour assistance during Hurricane Sandy. Here’s a note from their website: “For 24-hour assistance, call (202) 661 8068. AIC-CERT responds to the needs of cultural institutions during emergencies and disasters through coordinated efforts with first responders, states agencies, vendors and the public. Volunteers can provide advice and referrals by phone at the number above. Requests for onsite assistance will be forwarded by the volunteer to the AIC-CERT Coordinator and Project Director for response. Less urgent questions can also be answered by emailing info@conservation-us.org.”

[9:15 p.m.]Virginia Beach Residents: Your McDonald’s Is Not FloodedOf the many fake photos supposedly depicting scenes from Hurricane Sandy that are circulating around the rumor mill of Twitter and Facebook, one is of a 2009 art installation by the Danish art collective Superflex. For the piece, the group constructed a life-size replica of a McDonald’s restaurant and flooded it with water. It was on view at the Hirshhorn in Washington, D.C., in 2009. The image was tweeted out today by @DMVFollowers, according to their Twitter bio, “the most influential brand in the DC area,” with the description “McDonalds in Virginia Beach Flooded.” Fear not, Big Mac lovers! It’s a fake. Superflex, by the way, is represented by Peter Blum Gallery in Chelsea. Their last show at the gallery was in March of this year, during much drier times.

[6:15 p.m.]Securing Columbus: The Public Art Fund has closed Tatzu Nishi’s scaffolding installation around the sculpture of Columbus at Columbus Circle on the northwest corner of Central Park today and tomorrow. A spokesperson for PAF shared the following via e-mail:

“We made the decision to close the exhibition at 3pm yesterday, before the citywide suspension of subway service went into effect in the evening. Given the likelihood of high winds, flooding, and power outages, we also decided to close the exhibition today and tomorrow. Pass holders who are being affected have been contacted by email, and we’ve posted information on our website and social media platforms. The structure is built to NYC building code to withstand high winds, and we secured freestanding items like stanchions yesterday, well before the winds began to pick up.”

[5:30 p.m.]Shuffling Events at Artists Space: Soho’s Artists Space has canceled and rescheduled events this week through Saturday. Tonight’s screening of Anja Kirschner and David Panos’ film The Empty Plan has been postponed to Friday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. Thursday’s conversation between David Joselit and Pamela M. Lee has been postponed to some as-yet-underdetermined in December. Saturday’s screening of Yvonne Rainer’s The Man Who Envied Women has also been canceled. At this point, unless you hear otherwise, it’s probably safe to assume that just about everything art-related is canceled and closed tomorrow.

[3:15 p.m.] Yorkville Snug, Christie’s Reschedules Two Auctions: The Christie’s New York offices have closed for today and tomorrow, meaning two auctions have been rescheduled. Here’s part of an e-mail from a spokeswoman:

— the 19th Century European Art Sale (originally scheduled for today) has been rescheduled for Thursday, November 1 at 10:00 a.m.
–The 2:00 p.m. session of Prints and Multiples (originally scheduled for Tuesday October 29) has been rescheduled to Wednesday, October 31 at 4:00 p.m.

Last week and over the weekend, our operational teams made extensive preparations for the storm, so we expect our New York operations will resume as planned on Wednesday as weather conditions start to improve. All November sales and previews will take place as planned.

Meanwhile, uptown at Sotheby’s, everything is business as usual. “Our building is staffed and secured and we plan to stay closed to the public until midday tomorrow,” a spokesman wrote, “but will re-evaluate tomorrow morning. All of the property for our evening sales is back from various events abroad and our exhibition set up is well underway.”

[3:00 p.m.]Sticking It Out in Red Hook: While others are evacuating Red Hook, photographer Jade Doskow is staying put at her live/work space in Red Hook with her husband artist Lambert Fernando and their two-year-old son. “We have made the decision to weather the storm in Red Hook,” she told us over e-mail. “The building is quite old and solid and we have confidence that it will not flood up to the level of our loft, which is about 17 feet from street level. That being said, we do have friends right on the other side of the highway if it really seems like it is going to get too dangerous.” But then again, there are quite a few people in their building who are also sticking around, and it is “a pretty communal kind of place,” so they’ve teamed up to be in touch and keep dibs on each other in case they need to help each other out. One thing Ms. Doskow won’t be doing is snapping pictures. “Although I would absolutely love to be out photographing the wild waterfront right now,” she said.

[2:30 p.m.]Dispatch From Gowanus: Julia Whitney Barnes, an artist who works out of Screwball Spaces, an artist-filled building in Gowanus, said she was there yesterday to help prep the third floor for the storm. “I think Screwball should be relatively fine,” she said over e-mail, “but sure to be inaccessible until the flooding goes down. I don’t think anyone stuck around the building.” She lives near Prospect Park and is hanging there until things calm down. And though she’s out of the storm, she has suffered other art-related setbacks. “I was supposed to ship work out today for a show in Arkansas and now the installation is going to have to be delayed.”

[2:00 p.m.] All Quiet in Chelsea, With a Touch of Flooding on the Waterfront: Water is beginning to spill over into the park along the Hudson River, but the gallery-lined streets of Chelsea are dry. Sandbags are in place, windows are taped and Bottino’s take-out storefront is open. (No deliveries today, sadly.) At Pace’s 25th Street branch, Nancy Reddin Kienholz is even at work installing a show. A full set of photos with some additional commentary is available here.

“Since Friday, when I heard about the Hurricane, I started taking my precautions, buying sand bags, plastic, foam, wood… My main concern was the paintings lying in the floor waiting to dry, so during all Saturday and Sunday we had to cover all them with plastic and move them as high as possible. But we really never expected so much water to come. This morning we tried to get back to the studio and see if we could do something else but it was impossible to get through, the water had just covered all the way to Fairway. I stepped out of the car and decided to go in, water all the way under my hip, cold as hell, but still nothing else to do. I couldn’t open my door studio cause if I opened it, more water would just get in, so just hope inside looks better and that tonight doesn’t get worse.”

And he sent along the image above.

[1:37 p.m.] Garden Partly: As was the case for Tropical Storm Irene, the Museum of Modern Art has removed a few statues from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, along with the chairs and tables that are usually out there as well. The museum is closed today, said a museum spokeswoman, as it will be tomorrow, in keeping with their regular schedule. Because we have nothing better to do, we also asked her how The Scream is. She said it’s fine.

[12:09 p.m.]Wrapped Tighter Than a Mummy, But No Met on Tuesday: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, always closed on Mondays, is entirely secured, from the Tomás Saraceno sculpture currently on the roof (designed to withstand a hurricane anyway) to the plaza construction just outside the museum. However, the Met has just announced that it will be closed tomorrow for the storm.

‘Buckyball’ in Madison Square Park, which is closed, on Monday morning. (The New York Observer)

[12:02 p.m.]Worry Not For Yon BUCKYBALL: Some of you may have been concerned that Leo Villareal’s BUCKYBALL sculpture, installed in Madison Square Park, may be in danger due to the inclement weather. Not so! Though no special precautions have been taken to protect the sculpture, it should be fine all the same, said a spokeswoman for the Square Park Conservancy’s Mad. Sq. Art program, in an e-mail: “The Madison Square Park Conservancy always accounts for its late-fall and winter installations to be on view outdoors through rain, sleet and snow. Leo Villareal’s BUCKYBALL will be on view through February 1st so the Park has already taken the precautions for winter weather into account. We all hope that the hurricane will pass quickly and smoothly.”

[11:30 a.m.]In Flooded Red Hook, Still House Group Has Fingers Crossed: Still House Group, an art collective that offers communal studio space to its members in an old building right on the water in Red Hook, is dealing just fine with that neighborhood’s flooding so far. Reached by e-mail Monday morning, Isaac Brest, one of the group’s founders, said: “We’re on the fourth floor, so storm surge-flooding luckily isn’t an issue for us. Our leak prone ceiling will probably dampen the space a bit, but we went in yesterday and got everything of value up off the floor. My main worry is [the] strength of our 150 yr old building’s foundation, and its ability to remain structurally sound while underwater for a day or 2.” They’re still planning an event on Saturday, though, when the city is (hopefully) back to normal.

[10:30 a.m.] Phillips Reschedules Editions Sale: We can report that the Martians have landed in a field in New Jersey and—what’s that? Oh my God! The horror! They’ve zapped someone with a heat ray and—no, we’re just kidding, Phillips de Pury has rescheduled an editions sale that was to have taken place today. It’s been moved to Wednesday for the evening sale and Thursday for the day sale, which shows both foresight and a lack of optimism on their part.

[10:00 a.m.] Whitney Studio Party, Everything Else Canceled: The 2012 Whitney Studio Party, scheduled to take place on Tuesday, Oct. 30, on Pier 57 along the Hudson River, has been canceled and will be rescheduled. Those with tickets can get a refund, but a new date for the party should be released soon. This year’s party will feature a wall of framed Instagrams by well-known artists up for sale. You can preview them here as you sit inside today.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28

[6:04 p.m.]L.E.S. Openings Nixed: Many Lower East Side galleries canceled opening receptions, rescheduling them for later in the week or next weekend. (One exception was Untitled, which went ahead with its Joshua Neustein opening.) Some museums, like the Jewish Museum and Guggenheim, closed early, and just about every institution said that it would be closed tomorrow. Read the full story here.

Comments

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